1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to commercial motor vehicles and more particularly to an automated system for cycling vehicle lamps on and off to allow direct sight inspection by one person of operability of the lamp bulbs during a vehicle walkaround.
2. Description of the Problem
Federal regulations governing commercial vehicles and school busses provide for periodic inspection of various vehicle systems. Among the vehicle systems requiring inspection are exterior lamps, such as headlights, turn indicator lamps and identification lights. An inspection must determine not only if the lamp is operable, but that systems for actuating lamps for indicating turns, braking, or for flashing, are also functioning correctly. Performing such checks has generally been much easier if two people are available to make the check, one to remain in the cab of the vehicle to depress the brakes, activate turn signals and perform other similar operations while another person walks around the vehicle to view the lamps' operation. Where only one person, typically the driver, is available, such checks can be quite onerous.
Partial automation of a exterior light inspection procedure was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,674,288, which is incorporated herein by reference. The Vehicle Lamp Inspection System proposed there provided for the automatic activation and deactivation of a vehicle's exterior lights in accordance with a predetermined sequence. The system was implemented over a programmable electrical system controller, programmed to implement a repeating test program in response to a user request.